Scenes 61 to 80

One of the students warns the others that the hotel is surrounded by suspicious men. They try to escape through the window. Before Zhao and some others can escape as well, the men have already entered the room and Zhao is captured together with two students.

Adjutant Zhao is being dragged out of the hotel and onto the streets by the men, but there they come across a patrol of the 17th Route Army. Adjutant Zhao cries for help and the patrol asks the men to identify themselves. As their leader cannot provide the desired information, the patrol takes him and another of the men along for investigation.

Tian Wenhao answers a phone call informing Yang Hucheng and his staff that a patrol has come across Zhang Xueliang’s personal adjutant Zhao who has been captured together with two students by the local party committee. Yang Hucheng tells Tian to call Zhang immediately.

Zhang Xueliang answers the phone, ordering that Adjutant Zhao should be brought back. When his wife asks what has happened, he explains the matter to her. He says that Adjutant Zhao was with the students because he told him to go there, but the question is why the local party committee captured them. Now Zhang fears for his own safety as well.

The students are being severely beaten and interrogated by Zheng Guangqing about their connections to Zhang Xueliang’s Northeastern Army, but they do not say anything.

Zhang Xueliang and his wife talk about Adjutant Zhao’s arrest. She urges Zhang to make a decision quickly, thus Zhang gives orders to encircle the party committee, free the captives and confiscate all secret documents.

Zhang Xueliang’s soldiers storm the building, search it for documents and take the captives with them.

Zhang Xueliang, Ding Li and two soldiers are browsing the confiscated documents of the local GMD party’s committee. Ding advices Zhang to send Jiang Jieshi a telegram in order to explain and settle things, because this operation of raiding the local party committe was no small matter. Later Yang Hucheng arrives and Zhang shows him one of the confiscated documents which says that the there are great contradictions between the 17th Route Army of Yang and the Northeastern Army of Zhang. Yang and Zhang laugh about this erroneous reports.

Director Li and Zheng Guangqing are looking at the chaos Zhang Xueliang’s men have left behind. Li, too, decides to send a telegram to Jiang Jieshi immediately about what happened.

While Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng are still reading the documents, they discover that they have been shadowed all the time. They are already being suspected to be working together with the CCP, thus the only opportunity they have left is to oppose Jiang Jieshi. But Yang argues that they are not strong enough to do so in two. Therefore they will have to cooperate with the Communists. Zhang thus asks Yang to take on this step, but Yang argues that Zhang as well has had contacts with the CCP. They both now admit to each other that every one of them had had contacts with the CCP already.

Jiang Jieshi is chairing a meeting of the military council, when he receives Zhang Xueliang’s telegram. He reads it and angrily throws it on the table. The others gather around the telegram. After they have read it, one of them suggests in a low voice that this could be a good opportunity to get rid of Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng. But Jiang Jieshi has a telegram sent to Zhang in which he calls his behaviour too rash, but as Zhang “already knows he made a mistake”, it will not have any consequences, and he even allows him to decide what to do with the captives. Upon hearing this, the others present at the meeting are startled, but Jiang does not explain his action and simply tells them to sit down and go on with the meeting.

The comment states that in September 1936, after putting down the warlord uprising in Guangxi and Guangdong, Jiang Jieshi moved his troops from there to the Northwest, concentrating them in Zhengzhou and Luoyang, and ordered the airports of Xi’an and Lanzhou to be expanded. His main aim was to bring the Northwest again under his own control.

Jiang Jieshi flies to Luoyang. At the airport he is greeted by the troops and some high members of the Guomindang.

The soldiers line up deferentially when Jiang Jieshi steps out of the building. Jiang asks his attendant Qian Dajun (钱大钧) about the progress of the concentration of his troops and the work on the airports. He stresses the urgency of these matters and announces that he will go to Xi’an right away, even though Qian doubts that this is safe.

Zhang Xueliang, Yang Hucheng, Tian Wenhao, Wang Yizhe and several men of their armies are discussing the news of Jiang Jieshi’s having come to Xi'an. They are worried about the intentions he might have towards them, because Jiang is bringing the troops that suppressed the uprising in the South with him. Zhang decides to go to Lintong (临潼) (near Xi’an) immediately in order to meet Jiang, who resides there, and find out about his plans.

Zhang Xueliang, Yang Hucheng and their men arrive at the Huaqing Pool. They are received by Qian Dajun and asked to wait outside Wujian Hall (五间厅).

Jiang Jieshi is cleaning his denture when Qian Dajun comes in to report the arrival of Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng. They are let in and Jiang welcomes them rather friendly. When Zhang wants to ask him why he has come to Xi’an, he simply states he wants to “relax” after the suppression of the uprising in the South. The next day he wants them to show him around in Xi’an; for the day after he has prepared a list of men of their respective armies that have to accompany him.

Jiang Jieshi visits the pagoda together with Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng. Referring to historical precedents, he remarks that Xi’an is an ideal place to think about monopolising power, making feel Zhang uneasy. Then Jiang visits the tomb of Qin Shihuang, accompanied by men of the army. Jiang talks to Yang’s general Feng Qinzai (冯钦哉) and says that if there are any problems within the troops, he may tell Qian Dajun about it. Later a photo is taken and Jiang pulls Feng right in the middle of the picture, next to him [as a hint he might be promoted at the expense of “less loyal” generals].

Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng are talking about their accompanying Jiang Jieshi. Zhang still believes that he can convince Jiang to stop the civil war, because it is so obvious that Japan is the greater danger in the present situation. Yang merely expresses his hope that Zhang may succeed [but does not seem to be very convinced].

Jiang Jieshi is holding a speech in which he again stresses the importance of eliminating the Communists before concentrating on the resistance against Japan, but there is growing unrest among the listeners.

previous  next

back to top